WILLMAR -- For three years in a row Affiliated Community Medical Centers has taken Kandiyohi County to court to have the value of its Willmar clinic property lowered.
Every year a tax court judge has obliged and reduced the property value.
It appears the medical clinic will file a similar lawsuit again this year.
Kandiyohi County Assessor Tim Falkum told the Kandiyohi County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday that Affiliated Community Medical Centers has filed initial papers in court, sending the signal for another possible lawsuit.
He said his office is continuing to work with clinic attorneys.
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In a later interview Falkum said the value of the Affiliated Community Medical Centers property had been at $10.2 million in 2003 for the property taxes payable in 2004. The tax judge lowered it to about $9 million.
When ACMC filed another lawsuit for the 2004 property values for the taxes payable in 2005, the tax judge lowered the value to $8.2 million. The action was repeated last year for the 2006 taxes when the tax judge reduced the value of the property to $8.4 million.
The 2006 value for the Willmar property, for the 2007 taxes, is set at $9 million, according to Pat Erickson, Willmar city assessor. The values include six parcels owned by ACMC in Willmar.
Although the city of Willmar sets the market value for properties within the city, Falkum said the county defends those property values if they are challenged in court and provides the attorneys.
Falkum said ACMC has repeatedly objected because they "felt their property was valued too high" compared to similar properties in Willmar.
Falkum also provided an update on other land value issues in the county. Although prices of residential properties have been increasing, they're "not going up as fast" as in recent years and have "leveled off" in recent months.
The rate of home foreclosures is increasing in Kandiyohi County, Falkum said, but the situation is "not as bad as elsewhere. Kandiyohi County still has a strong market."
Lakeshore property "continues to go up" and experiences "strong sales."
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Agricultural land values have "been going up steadily in the last three years," Falkum said.
The sale price for an acre of ag land varies from one part of the county to the other but on average is in the range of $3,000 an acre, Falkum said. Five years ago the average price was $1,500 an acre.
That average may be increasing again with unconfirmed reports of a recent sale of farmland in Edwards Township for $4,800 an acre, Falkum said.
